Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has been fair and firm in the way he conducts business in the House, a political scientist at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo has said.
According to Prof Gyampo, the Speaker is interested in leaving behind a legacy for the sake of posterity than being a partisan slave to his political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday November 12, he said “The Speaker has been firm, assertive and has been somebody who has served as the neutral arbiter, independent minded. He is more concerned with the legacy that he will bequeath for posterity than being a partisans slave. He is being found doing things to favour government and also for the NDC.
“With the government side, they are happy and they are applauding him but sometimes they level all manner of accusations against him. The speaker has been fair except to say to say that he appears to be a bit sympathetic towards the government and the Finance Minister.”
His comments follow the exchanges that occurred between the Speaker and the Member of Parliament for Asawase Muntaka Mubarak in Parliament on Thursday November 10 after the lawmaker rose to second the motion of censure vote against the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta which was moved by Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu.
Muntaka quoted Order 106 of the Standing Orders which the Speaker based his ruling on to refer the matter to a committee to deal with it
Mr Bagbin interjected. He said “Hon, you are completely out of order. Hon. Member, I don’t take my rulings lightly, please. You are attacking my ruling, and I think you don’t have the authority to do so. If you want to attack my ruling, come by a substantive motion.”
The speaker subsequently announced the formation of an 8-member committee to investigate the allegation made against the Finance Minister.